Colored stencil card



Patented Oct. 18, 1927.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERWIN A. GEIGER, OI RIDGEWOOD, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO RAPID ADDRESSING MACHINE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

COLORED STENCIL cARn.

No Drawing.

This invention relates to stencils and sheets or blanks which are to' be made into stencils by displacing through the actionof type pressure. portions of a more or less plastic coating applied to a base of thin loosely felted fabric such asYoshino paper. More particularly the invention is designed for use in connection with stencils and stencil blanks of this description in which the coating is mainly composed of a substantially coagulated protein and is designed to render the characters formed in said sheet more legible, while said sheet is in the process of being written on the typewriting machine, and subsequently by forming a film on the exterior of the coating of the sheet which shall have a colorcontrasting with that of the Yoshino fibre exposed by the blow of the type.

As it is usually necessary to dampen sheets of this description during the writing of the stencil on the typewriter the celluloid sheet or other surface upon which the stencil blank rests during the operation does not show through the exposed fibres outlining the typed characters, and it is somewhat diflicult for the operator to read so much of the legend as has been written in order to correct or complete the same before the sheet is removed from the machine. The underlying principle of the invention is the rendering of the surface of the sheet non-reflecting tolight, while leaving the exposed portions of the surfaces of the embedded white fibres with substantially their.

full reflecting power.

To this end the entire surface of the blank is treated with a dye which will com bine with the -surface portion thereof to form an exterior film of any suitable color, such for instance as purple, which has a low reflecting power, but which dye will not penetrate enough into the interior of the composite sheet to materially change the original white color of theembedded fibre. Accordingly when the type 'strikes the sheet the major portion of the coating material beneath it, together with the exterior film thereon, is pushed away laterally, leaving exposed the underlying fibre with perhaps a 4 small portion of the undyed coating material adhering thereto.

A further object of the preferred embodiment of the invention hereinafter to be described'is the combination with such super- Application filed October 11, 1926.- I Serial No. 141,033.

ficially absorbed dye of a material which shall not only assist in limiting the penetrating effect of said dye. but also combines with the coating exterior to form a slightly harder surface film which shall render the stencil as a whole'more durable both while in use and during handling and storage,

and also retard evaporation of its initial moisture content.

In carrying out the invention it is-preferable to take a dye havlng an alcoholic vehicle, with co'loring matter of a mineral nature (coal tar derivatives) such for in-'-' stance as the Meta denatured alcohol dyes.

The solutions are made up to the point of saturation allowing the alcohol to absorb as much of the coloring matter as possible and are then mixed With equal volumes of .1-

solution of commercial shellac digested in alcohol. The coated sheets of Yoshino paper are then drawn across the surface of the bath formed as above described with the result that the combined solution of. coloring matter and shellac deposits on the under surface of the sheet, combining with the surface particles of the coagulated coatlng to form a thin film having the color of the dye and the varnish-like effect of the shellac. Then the paper, either in the form of sheets or of card panels, is subjected to the action of the type blows ofithe typewriting machine, the particular portion of this thin film coming in contact with the type face is broken up and pushed aside with the laterally flowing undyed coating mass beneath it, leaving the white fibres of the Yoshino exposed. These contrast sharply in color with the undisturbed'portion. of the sheet coating exterior and this primarily desired effect, the coloring film which is a constituentpart of the coatin will not rub off or adhere to surfaces rought in contact therewith (as distinguished from the colored surface produced bymechani cally depositing particles of colored matter thereon), and that the shellac constituents of the bath in addition to retarding any penetrating tendency of the dye itself, combines with it, and with the surface of the must be of a non-acid character as any dye of acid character will permeate the entire coating, color the embedded fibre, and render it impossible to produce the desired result of heightened legibility' when the stencil is typed.

I have also found that the coating of stencil sheets made in accordance with my invention retains its initial moisture content longer than when my invention is not employed. This is doubtless due to the airtight seal afi'ord'ed by the film of deposited shellac. As these sheets must be moist to allow the type to properly displace the coating, this feature of myfl'nvention is of considerable practical importance. 7

Having described my invention I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet adapted to be formed into a stencil by type pressure, which sheet comprises a base of thin, loosely felted fibre permeable by rinting ink, a coating therefor adapted to partially displaced laterally by type pressure, and a film of colored matter on the outer surface of, said coating comprising a portion of said coating material saturated with a liquid dye which has not penetrated to the said fibrous base.

2. As a new article of manufacture, a sheet adapted to be formed into a stencil by type pressure, which sheet comprises a base of thin, loosely felted fibre, a coating therefor adapted to be partially displaced laterally by the type pressure, and a film of colored matter on the outer surface of said coating comprising a portion of said coating material saturated with a liquid dye which has not penetrated to the said fibrous base and a varnish.

3. As a. new article of manufacture a sheet adapted to be formed into a stencil by type pressure, which sheet comprises a base of white Yoshino paper, a coating therefor comprising a substantially coagulated protein, and a film on the outer surface of said coating comprising a portion ofsaid coating material saturated with a liquid dye which has not penetrated to said paper base.

4. As a new article of manufacture a sheetadapted to be formed into a stencil by type pressure, which sheet comprises a base of white Yoshino paper, a coatin therefor comprising a substantially coagu ated protein, and a film on the outer surface of said coating comprisin a portion of said coating material saturated with a liquid dye having a non-acid vehicle.

5. As a. new article of manufacture a sheet adapted to be formed into a stencil by type pressure, which sheet comprises a base of white Yoshino paper, a coating therefor comprising a substantially coagulated protein, and a mm on the outer surface of said coating comprising a. port-ion of said coating material saturated with a liquid dye having alcohol as its vehicle and mixed with shellac.

6. A stencil sheet having in combination a base of Yoshino paper, a partially removed coating of substantially coagulated protein, and an outer film on the undisturbed portion of said coating comprising a portion of said coating saturated with a solution containing shellac and an alcohol dye contrasting in color with the said Yoshino base.

ERWIN A. GEIGER. 

